Darts & Laurels: Cold takes an icy toll; DCIU plan takes the heat

Saturday, February 8, 2014

A look at the week that was, the issues and people who made headlines, and a few darts and laurels for those who deserve them.

DART: First it was brutal cold. Then it was snow. Now it’s ice. Wednesday’s ice storm KO’d power to more people across the region than any other storm aside from Superstorm Sandy. Yes, you could say we’re ready for spring.

LAUREL: To the PECO crews who have been working around the clock to get everybody back on the grid. It’s not easy work, especially when you know how impatient people are to have their power back.

DART: To the high cost of winter. Home heating bills are going through the roof. The economy is taking a big hit because people are hibernating in their homes during this endless winter assault. They’re not going out to dinner, or the movies. They’re not buying cars, either. Enough already.

LAUREL: To being “unplugged.” A lot of us talk about it, but this week many of us got an unwanted glimpse of how we used to live. Without power, cell phones, Internet or TV. So how did you like it? Electric never looked so good once it came back, but it’s nice to know we can actually survive without it.

LAUREL: To the huge crowd of Aston residents who turned out this week to register their complaints about the proposed expansion and consolidation of Delaware County Intermediate Unit classes at the Aston campus. It’s clear they’re less than enthused about this new addition to their neighborhood, and they weren’t shy about letting officials know about it.

DART: To Aston and Delaware County Intermediate Unit officials. They didn’t help matters any by being less than open and forthcoming about this proposal. Many residents rightly feel like they were trying to slide this proposal in without much input from the community.

LAUREL: To IBEW Union Local 654 out in Upper Chichester. This weekend they are marking 75 years of protecting workers’ rights. And at their new home they continue the crucial training that provides business with the craftsmen of the future. We’ll add our salute.

DART: To the persistent efforts, in Harrisburg and elsewhere, to chip away at workers’ rights. It’s always the working men and women who take it in the neck every time some pol starts talking about reforming the workplace.

LAUREL: To Gov. Tom Corbett. With his budget address this week, he showed a much different candidate than the one who dominated his first three years in office. Corbett suddenly was adding money for education and offering some state workers raises. You might think the guy was running for office. Oh, never mind.

DART: While the governor unveiled a new block grant program and more money for special education, he failed to address something he had earlier indicated he would. That would be the basic inequity in the state education funding formula, including the long-time reliance on property taxes as the basic building block of funding education.

LAUREL: To the third-graders out at Chatham Park Elementary School in Haverford. They took the top spot in the 2014 WordMasters Challenge, a national language arts competition. We add our congratulations.

DART: To the fact the this brutal winter also is wreaking havoc with school schedules. The kids might be enjoying the time off now, but they likely will not like the idea of cutting days from spring break, or adding days at the end of the school year. One way or another, they still have to get in their 180 days of schooling.

LAUREL: To the effort that went into rescuing a puppy that had wandered out onto the frozen Delaware River off Tinicum last weekend. Local police, firefighters and a local ‘river rat’ took quick action to corral the wayward pooch.

DART: To nasty conditions up and down the river. Huge ice chunks that are clogging the waterway are proving to be a tough impediment to river commerce, as well as a lure to animals. This is not the only incident were a dog had to be plucked from the frozen chunks clogging the river.

LAUREL: To Rashad Calhoun of Chester. The young fashion entrepreneur has gone from doing prom dresses for friends to having his work hit the fashion runways of New York City. And it all started with a single sewing machine when he was 13 years old.

DART: To those who are so quick to put down Chester and doubt that much good ever comes from the city. They obviously have never met Rashad Calhoun, and the many other young people who do not make headlines every day.

LAUREL: To Jack Whelan. The county district attorney continues to push the message about the perils involved in opioids and the new resurgence of heroin use, which is now approaching epidemic levels in the county. He was at Sun Valley High School last week and at Ridley High this week with his sobering message.

DART: Need proof that heroin doesn’t discriminate? The world was stunned last weekend with news of the OD death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. He had been clean for 20 years before recently relapsing. There are all too many families in Delaware County who know the very same horrors.

LAUREL: To the move by the state Legislature to give tavern owners more leeway in allowing small games of chance such as raffles and pull-tab games. It’s a desperately needed life preserver for many of these small businesses.

DART: We remain uneasy about the consistent expansion of legalized gambling and the social ills that inevitably follow.

DART: To Punxsutawney Phil. Guess the varmint meant business when he forecast six more weeks of winter. Enough already.

LAUREL: Guess what happens next week? Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater for the start of Phillies spring training. Yep, spring can’t be far behind.

LAUREL: To the Seattle Seahawks. Behind their ferocious defense, they captured their first-ever Super Bowl title last weekend.

DART: To Peyton Manning and Broncos. Did these guys even make the trip to North Jersey? They were out of their element and never in the game in a 43-8 blowout.

DART: To the winter of our discontent. No, we’re not talking about the weather. We’re talking about the Sixers and Flyers. Can’t we just start another football season?

LAUREL: To the NFL Draft. Yep, it’s only a few months away. They we can start counting the days until training camp.